Newsbits

European equivalent

The year’s most significant European diabetes care conference was EASD – the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes – which took place between 1–5 September in Budapest, Hungary. As always, Novo Nordisk was strongly represented both in terms of scientific material and exhibitions.

Novo Nordisk held a satellite symposium called ‘Tools for Metabolic Control, Today and Tomorrow’ which included ‘Today’s tools: insulin and its analogues’, ‘Tomorrow’s tools – inhaled insulin’ and ‘Resistance, rest and regeneration’.

A total of 55 abstracts were accepted for this year’s EASD – 44 posters and 11 oral presentations. That is a huge accomplishment for Novo Nordisk and an increase of 15 abstracts compared to last year’s EASD. The following projects were presented:

• Repaglinide: 8 posters
• Ragaglitazar: 1 oral + 7 posters 
• Insulin aspart: 1 oral + 2 posters
• Biphasic insulin aspart: 1 oral + 6 posters 
• Insulin detemir: 2 orals + 4 posters
• AERx^® iDMS: 3 posters 
• Insulin needles: 1 oral + 1 poster 
• FlexPen^®: 2 posters
• NN2211: 2 orals + 2 posters 
• NN414: 2 orals + 5 posters 
• Basic research: 1 oral + 4 posters 

EASD was founded in Montecatini, Italy, in 1965. The aims of the association are to encourage and support research in the field of diabetes, to rapidly diffuse acquired knowledge and to facilitate its application. The association is based on individual membership and embraces scientists, physicians, laboratory workers, nurses and students from all over the world who are interested in diabetes and related subjects.
 

	New factory in China on its way On 31 May, Novo Nordisk broke ground for a new packaging and quality control factory in Tianjin, China. Chief Operating Officer Kåre Schultz and General Manager for Novo Nordisk in China, Thorkil Christensen, were among those who participated in the ceremony to mark the large investment. The factory will be the company’s largest and most modern production base in the Asian-Pacific region through three to four phases of development. During the first phase, Novo Nordisk will build a production workshop and biology laboratory as well as a warehouse and offices. The first phase will be completed toward the end of 2002, and extra space will be reserved for expansion purposes.  Breaking ground in Tianjin.

Not all HRT products are created equal

The Women’s Hormone Intervention Secondary Prevention (WHISP) pilot study in the United Kingdom shows that low-dose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can have the positive effect of reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in postmenopausal women. CVD is the main cause of mortality in that group. The study conducted in the Royal Brompton & Harefield Trust, the largest cardiovascular centre in Europe, tested the feasibility and safety of giving a low-dose HRT regimen to women with a recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS). One hundred postmenopausal women, within 48 hours and 28 days post onset of ACS – in laymen’s terms, a heart attack – received Novo Nordisk’s Activelle^® or placebo tablets. The clinical outcome showed a distinctly lower incidence of death, myocardial infarction, stroke and CVD admissions in the Activelle^® group.

What does that mean? Not all HRT products are created equal. Simply, the data shows that it is safe and feasible to give low-dose HRT to postmenopausal women with ACS.

The data is very promising and support the principle of low-dose HRT with oestradiol/NETA as a safe treatment even for such high-risk patients. 
 

Johannesburg 2002 Summit

Novo Nordisk is a voice in the global debate on sustainability; the point was especially made clear during the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which took place 26 August – 
4 September. 

First of all, in cooperation with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, Novo Nordisk hosted ‘When Trust is Challenged: Dilemmas and Opportunities in Corporate Transparency’.

Lise Kingo, executive vice president, Stakeholder Relations, one of the hosts of the workshop, says that it “aimed to encourage dialogue regarding corporate transparency by asking questions like: Is corporate transparency just ‘business as usual’ in another guise? What challenges does this pose for the corporate world? What opportunities are there for responding constructively to other world views?” 

News at the conference also included notice of the Nordic Partnership. A news story, which can be seen at www.johannesburgsummit.org, describes how a group of non-governmental organisations and CEOs met this April in Copenhagen to form the Nordic Partnership, a group dedicated to making sustainable development a part of their core business operations. 

The story goes on to describe how the partnership’s members, including Novo Nordisk, have committed to working toward several sustainable development goals.

Top